Hyndai's fuel cell car maps central London

A mosaic depicting Oxford Street made of half a million photographs of central London streets captured by automated mapping technology has been created by Hyundai.

For 50 days, Hyundai's zero-emission hydrogen powered ix35 Fuel Cell car criss-crossed the streets of central London, capturing an image every six to seven metres as part of the Streetcar Named Hyundai project, designed to celebrate Hyundai’s ten years in the UK.

The car, emitting only water, covered 2,092 miles, mapping every single street of central London.

Hyundai developed new software capable of adjusting the camera shutter frequency based on the car’s speed, distance travelled and angle of the car’s trajectory. Overall 503,913 images were captured, totalling 207,000Mb of data.

Special software was used to automatically sequence, blend and align the images in real time to create the ultimate 6m x 2m mosaic, of which every pixel is a single image of central London.

The unusual piece of art will go on display at City Hall in March 2016 as part of London’s Hydrogen Week.

“We’re incredibly proud of how far Hyundai has come in the UK in the short space of 10 years. During this time our brand has been completely transformed through innovation, design and technology – all of which encapsulate the Streetcar Named Hyundai challenge,” said Tony Whitehorn, Hyundai Motor UK’s President and CEO. “This unique activity has all been about showcasing London from a different perspective, just as we want people to view Hyundai from a different perspective”

Celebrities such as British Olympic Boxing Champion Nicola Adams, reality TV star Jamie Laing and WRC driver and co-driver Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were among the 127 drivers taking turns behind the wheel of the car during the 50-day challenge.

“Energy-efficient transport like these hydrogen fuel cell cars are key to helping improve the capital’s air quality and reduce carbon emissions,” said Matthew Pencharz, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy. “I’m pleased that Hyundai’s project has produced such an interesting portrait of our city with their new hydrogen technology and I look forward to hosting a part of the finished product here at City Hall.”